


This is My Family

by AsexualBabyBeast



Category: The Thundermans
Genre: Gen, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-06-08 00:47:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15231684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsexualBabyBeast/pseuds/AsexualBabyBeast
Summary: The Thundermans show what its like to be a real family.





	1. My Superhero

**Summary: Max finds Billy about to be beat up and steps in for his little brother.**

**Title: My Superhero**

"Please don't hurt me."

It's the most pathetic and cliché plea he's ever heard but he could've sworn on Phoebe's life that it was Billy making the plea. It does seem likely, Billy is young and hasn't learnt how to defend himself without using his powers and doesn't like to hurt people or fight back.

He steps into the alley, twisting his body around the corner so as to remain hidden while also being able to see the poor sucker being beaten up. There are five boys, who look too tall and big to be called kids, all forming a circle around another boy who looks suspiciously like Billy. The boys he can see are grinning from ear to ear, obviously finding some sort of enjoyment in the terror their prisoner is feeling.

The boy in the middle turns around, eyes wide as he tries to face the leader of the pack and Max catches a glimpse of his face before he's flying back against the wall. He pinches himself to be sure but he knows without a doubt that the boy in the middle of the circle copping a beating is none other than Billy Thunderman.

He leaps from behind the corner, taking out the closest two boys. The remaining boys flock to help their friends and end up getting a fist to the face. One stands up again, clearly looking for a beating and Max lashes out, hitting any surface of the dirt bag who think he has a right to touch his little brother. He gets so lost in his anger that when the boy lands on the ground, he follows him, continuing to throw punch after punch on the boy's now limp face.

It's a whimper that brings him back to reality, brings him back to why he's even there and beating up teenagers.

He turns away from the now bloody nameless boy and instead faces his brother. He makes his way over to the boy, leaning down to swat his ear. He laughs as Billy whines and then turns and leans back, offering a piggy back. Billy hops on without question and the two make their way back home, with Max trying not to step on the bodies of the boys lying on the ground.

"I'm not a superhero Billy." Max reminds the boy, sensing the praise and wonder that's brimming in his naïve little brother. Billy giggles, hiding his face in Max's hair and Max can't help but laugh with him.

"You may not be a superhero but you'll always be my superhero."

**Note: Just short and admittedly sad one shot that features both protective!max and brotherly love.**

**AsexualBabyBeast**


	2. The Boy Who Cried

**Summary: Billy believes Max when the rest of his family doesn't and goes down to tell him, only to find something else.**

**Title: The Boy Who Cried**

"Nora said before that I shouldn't believe you because you're a bad guy but you looked really sad when we didn't believe you."

He rolls over, barely acknowledging his brother's presence before turning back to what he thinks is his eighth slice of pizza. He can still see their disbelieving faces, can still hear their harsh words, the little brushes of pain in his chest letting him know they'd hit their target. He feels the tears well in his eyes as he relives the scene and feels the first one slide down his cheek, followed soon by a river of salty water.

He lets himself sob into his pillow as his mind wanders, toying with his self-esteem and heart in his very rare and vulnerable moment. His body shakes with each sob and it isn't long before he's gasping for breath and trying to fight back more tears. He breathes out through his mouth, sniffling like he's sick, which he thinks would be better than this. He closes his eyes as more tears escape his eyes and moves the blanket over his head so he can sleep, ignoring the slice of pizza now lying on the floor.

He nearly jumps out of his skin when he feels arms wrap around his leg, a nose poking his stomach and what feels like hair tickling his blanket covered skin. He feels like crying again but he's gone through enough embarrassment already, being seen crying by Billy, but he can't because he's already used up all his tears.

"I don't think you're a liar." The words are muffled by his stomach but he still feels the hope building within him. He wants to believe the words, wants to carry them around with him so he can remember what it feels like to be believed but he knows that this will probably end up happening again within another few weeks.

"Get off me Billy." He curses the fact that he sounds like he's going to start crying and tries to shove the younger boy off of him which just makes Billy tighten his grip. HE shoves harder, just wanting Billy to leave so he can wallow in self-pity, which doesn't work because Billy is like a leech, clinging to him like he's his last lifeline.

"I'm not getting off until you say you believe me." Billy almost sings the words, almost sounding like Nora despite the fact that his words are muffled. On one hand, he doesn't want to find himself in the same position in another two week, with no faith in his family, with no one believing him. On the other, Billy is a pure (and oblivious) soul who isn't really like the rest of his manipulating siblings, meaning that he wouldn't really lie about something like this.

It's his mouth that makes the decision, uttering the phrase "I believe you" with such honesty that even the dumbest person in the world would be able to tell he's being honest. Billy squeals in response but doesn't lessen his grip, instead moving his face closer to Max's, nuzzling his cheek into the crook of his neck. Max's sigh turns into a chuckle as he slings an arm around his baby brother, noting with satisfaction that it feels good to be believed by someone.

"Does this mean I can tell Nora about the boy who cried?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I requested a Billy & Max interaction/fluff and didn't get it so I decided to write my own. I'm also very sorry for the late and crappy update, but I hope you like it.
> 
> AsexualBabyBeast


	3. The Perks of Being An Older Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: ThunderGirl, AKA Phoebe Thunderman, is badly injured but that won’t stop her from experiencing the perks of being an older sister for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: in this one-shot, Nora, Chloe and Billy are triplets and Max and Phoebe are their older siblings, who love them very much. Also I couldn’t remember what Phoebe’s superhero name is, so I kinda made one up.

Determination sinks into her bones as she hears the echo of shrill wails further down the hallway, letting her know that she’s on the right path. Her knees throbs with pain, providing her ever-growing headache the bass line it needs to become a song as she continues to struggle her way down the hallways. It really doesn’t help that they bend around corners and then spilt into at least three different directions.

She stumbles around what must be the hundredth corner today and is met with the sight of the waiting room. No one looks up as she stalks across the room muttering vicious curses, the type she won’t ever be able to say around her younger siblings. She’s about to make her way to the receptionist and demand where the maternity ward is when the peace of the waiting room is pierced by a high-pitched shriek. She spins around, ready to help the person when she’s pulled into a hug so tight they bring stars with them. She’s about to push intruder off when the words tumbling off their lips finally register in her fog filled mind. “– you’re literally my idol. I love you, so, so much. Thanks for keeping the city safe.”

Idol. City. Safe.  She realises with a shock that she’s still in full gear; cape, super suit, weapons, everything and anything ThunderGirl might need while saving the city. Her words – “Always happy to help.” – are barely registered and before long, the fan is being shooed away by the nurses who are rushing to help her into a wheelchair. Panicked faces swim above her, rushed words swimming out into an ocean that will never get them. They turn the corner and from the corner of her eye, she sees the sign that brings the nurses to a halt – _Barb Thunderman_.

The nurses seem to realise what she wants because they leave her outside the door. She struggles for a few minutes to get out of the chair before realising it has wheels and that the door is wide open, easy to access. She wheels in, excitement simmering under her skin, warming her veins and making her heart melt, even though the sight before her could have done that itself.

Her mother is cradling one of her siblings, a girl judging by the pink blanket, while Max, the one who says he doesn’t love his family, lays next to her, holding another baby sister. Her father is taking photos, capturing every moment with a huge smile on his face while a sleeping baby boy rests in an incubator nearby. She moves over to it, completely mesmerised by his little button nose and smooth skin. Her arms stretch out, gently stealing the baby from the mess of tangled blankets as tears of happiness fill her eyes. Her heart feels full of love for this little baby in her arms, her baby brother, and she knows that she’s gonna be the best big sister ever, despite the age gap. Phoebe lets her eyes slip shut soon after, falling asleep holding her baby brother, keeping him close to her heart.

These are the very first perks of being an older sister.


	4. Damn Good Impressions

Damn Good Impressions

* * *

Hank Thunderman may be a man of no fear but he’s still human who feels emotions – mostly hunger, annoyance and love – quite often. It isn’t to say that he’s never been nervous, it’s just that he’s never been more nervous in his life. His children are the centre piece of his world and he knows that they aren’t very happy with the _idea_ of a step-mother at the moment. Meeting her seems out of the cards for him but Sal is too stubborn for her own good – it doesn’t help that Phoebe insists on a proper introduction either.

The floorboard squeaks underneath his feet, a protest to the pacing he’s been doing for the past half hour, but he only presses harder. He doesn’t really care if the floorboard are starting to wear and he doesn’t care if they fall out from underneath him, especially not when he has other things on his mind. For all he cared, the house could be filled to the brim with drunk teenagers.

“Hank, sweetie just sit down please,” Sal calls, rubbing her hands across her cheeks in what Hank has come to call ‘All Done Sal’. “I get that Phoebe and Max are your world, Lily and Thomas are my world, but all this pacing and worrying? It’s unnecessary and you need to stop.” Hank would agree, if he wasn’t the one worrying. If this all went wrong his kids might hate him and Sal might leave him because he can’t even get his –

The doorbell rang, echoing around the house and cutting off his current train of thought. He jumped, turning wide eyed to Sal who had already gotten off the couch and was heading towards the door, looking nervous but excited at the same time. His heart squeezed painfully as he realised this was the one and only moment that Sal would have to make a good impression.

Taking a deep breath, he raises his head and runs after Sal, fully intending to make the first impression a damn good one.

 

 


	5. Jealous & Hateful Realisations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: two updates for this book in a month, that's pretty lucky. This should be a sort of sequel/part two of Damn Good Impressions but its whatever. I probably won't update/upload any stories for the rest of this year (crazy thought right?) so in case not, I hope y'all have a good ending to this year and a great start and continuation of the next one. 
> 
> AsexualBabyBeast

Jealous & Hateful Realisations

* * *

Sal likes to think she's a very accepting and adaptable person, especially when it comes to her current lovers children. At thirty-five years old, she's met at least fifty children, children with the potential to be her step-children, all of whom she has utterly adored. They've been a broad spectrum of ages; newborns, toddlers, teenagers, the whole lot. In all her years of meeting children she's never disliked, or in this case hated, a lovers child.

This isn't an easy fix either. It's not the sort of problem where the solution is spending more time with the kid/s and bonding with them. It's not the sort of problem where the solution is learning to love the thing she currently hates, because she doesn't know what's wrong with Phoebe and Max or why she hates them. All she knows is blinding rage, the kind of rage that feels like it's been built up over the course of a few months, and glaring when she _knows_ she should be welcoming and accommodating to two children who've just had their family torn apart. In her opinion, when the opinion isn't intertwined with burning hate, she knows that they should be the ones hating her, the ones glaring at her every movement, the ones who should be making excuses not to see _her_. It's the wrong way around and she needs to know why.

Her quick, half-assed solution is to a make a list of everything she finds annoying about the twins.

At first, she writes down all the little things they do, the ones she herself doesn't do, while also considering why they might annoy her. She comes up empty handed on multiple occasions and reviews the list almost every night, thinking about it in her spare time. The question consumes her life, which is ironic considering most people are obsessed with their loved ones, but she's determined to find the answer and she'll do anything to do that.

It's also ironic that 'anything' involves meeting Hank's ex-wife and mother to the twins, Barbara Thunderman. The moment she sees the woman with her coiled hair and unflattering makeup, she feels a wire of jealously and insecurity land in the pit of her stomach. In that moment, she also realises that the reason she doesn't like the twins is because, from what she's heard, they're like their mother. It's unfair to them but their presence is a reminder of the fact that the man she loves loved another before her.

When she thinks back on it later, she finds it ironic that it didn't take too long to realise she loved Hank Thunderman.


	6. Discovery Can Happen At Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Billy's discovering two different things in one moment of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: this chapter does a fifteen year old boy calling their parents 'mommy' and 'daddy' so if that makes you uncomfortable, I probably wouldn't recommend this chapter to you. This chapter also has a bisexual (although that isn't explicitly stated) so if your homophobic/biphobic DO NOT read. 
> 
> AsexualBabyBeast

The world is exciting and unfamiliar at fifteen years old and there’s lots to explore, lots to experience, lots to experiment with, people included. He doesn’t see the harm in it, doesn’t see the harm in spending time with different groups of people, some good some bad, especially not if it aids him on this grand journey of self-discovery he’s been told so much about. He doesn’t see the harm in associating with cute boys from around the neighbourhood.

Apparently, Mr Rotego and Ms Litale, the teachers who’d found him behind the dumpsters with Phil Davies from across his street, don’t agree. They call his parents, looking at him with thinly veiled disgust that makes Billy wonder what he’s gone and done wrong this time. His parents arrive, looking completely embarrassed about picking up the only child within their small brood who doesn’t cause much trouble, and Billy’s made to wait outside while Mr Rotego and Ms Litale inform his parents of his apparently unspeakable and evidently disgusting acts, something they both call a “sin”.

The drive home is short and tense, filled only with the sound of the engine and quiet sighs and grunts coming from his parents. They communicate with each other through only looks and wild, flying hand gestures, only looking at him when the other forgets the reason of the silent conversation. As soon as the dreadful drive home is over, and they’ve stepped into the privacy of their home, Billy knows he’s either in for a lecture about how disappointed they are in him or a lecture about why he should be setting examples for his older siblings – Billy’s not an A grade student but he’s smart to understand that it should be the other way around – or maybe both mixed into one.

“Let me start right off the bat sweetie,” Barb starts, clearly not wanting to be involved in whatever’s about to happen. “You’ll be going to same school as Nora and Chloe from now on. Your father and I agree that if Horizon can’t accept the fact that out baby boy is gay and feel the need to degrade him because of their religious views, then we won’t allow them to teach my son to hate who he is.”  She shakes her head. “It’s completely unacceptable.”

He frowned, mulling over her words. Some of it, like moving schools and his sisters, he understands perfectly. He doesn’t understand what his mom means by him being gay, – he’s confused about that term as well. What does gay mean? – the religious views and about this person who’s going to teach someone else, possibly him judging by his mother’s ending words, to hate who they are. His frown increases as questions about the unknown variables of situation start forming in his head. He blurts out the first and most obvious one first, asking in a quiet whisper, “What does gay mean?”.

His parents sigh, looking uncomfortable in the turn this supposed to be lecture has taken and like they’d expected him not to understand. They turn to each other, eyes locked onto each other’s, engaging in what looks to Billy like a staring contest. Barb’s stare hardens, making her look a little fiercer, before Hank sighs and steps forward, coming to rest in front of Billy’s folded knees. He clears his throat, eyes flickering around the room as he gathers his thoughts. It’s a few minutes before he turns his gaze back to Billy, eyes gentle as he says, “It’s like how mommy and daddy love each other,” he waits for Billy to nod before continuing. “Mommy’s a girl like Nora or Chloe and Daddy’s a boy just like you and Max are. Mommy’s and Daddy’s love each other but Daddy’s and Daddy’s can love each other. When two Daddy’s or two Mommy’s love each other, that’s called being gay.” He rubs circles on Billy’s leg as he explains, waiting until it seems like Billy fully understands what he’s just been told before moving to stand next to Barb.

 “But daddy, I don’t think I’m gay. The boys in class and across the road are cute but I really like Marie.” Billy asked, eyes downcast and closed as he feels the stinging of gathering tears. “Does that make me even more of a sei-n?”

Barb is first to react, stepping forward to wrap Billy into a bone shattering hug. She brings him to her own chest, smoothing his hair down as tears roll down her own cheeks, murmuring under her breath so quickly that the words eventually blend together to form unidentifiable nonsense that Billy doesn’t want to decode. “Where on earth did you hear that?” she demands, tone furious. Billy doesn’t make eye contact with her, remaining silent as he usually does when it came time to ‘snitch’ on anyone else. Barb remembers the loud conversation they’d had with his school teachers earlier and knows that he’d heard that bit about gay people being sins. “Honey, it doesn’t matter who you love, even if it is a boy. Loving a man isn’t a _sin_ and I won’t have you thinking it is. Don’t listen to those silly people at school.” She presses a kiss to his head as he nods, happy that she doesn’t have to expand.

Years later, when Billy’s once again exploring, experiencing and discovering, he’d remember that discovery could happen at home, with the people he loved supporting him every step of the way.


	7. Picking Up What They Dished Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: hopefully, by the end of the story you’ll have picked up on the metaphoric chapter title, but if not then my yearly intelligence has been wasted. This chapter does again have Billy calling Hank and Barb “mommy” and “daddy” even though they technically aren’t even present in his life. This chapter does also mention drugs and hints at neglect so if they are triggers or you don’t want that kind of stuff, I would not recommend this chapter for you. Happy Valentine’s Day by the way.
> 
> AsexualBabyBeast

On his first day of school, he sees parents dropping kisses to their children’s heads or waving them off tearfully and sees that the kids who hadn’t said goodbye to their parents just yet were clutching their hands or clinging to the bottom of their ironed shirts. He’d turned to look up at Max, who he knew wasn’t his dad, and had been confused about why his dad hadn’t been there to see him off like he’d promised. He didn’t know that his father was off snorting meth with his friends instead.

On his first day of third grade, his first ‘big boy’ grade as Phoebe and Nora had called it, he saw parents ruffling his friend’s hair and their siblings giggling as they huffed and puffed, annoyed but smiling, nonetheless. He saw, as he walked past the colourful, decorated rooms he’d played in only a year ago, that parents were hugging their children close to them as though to whisper a secret that would help them get through their first day of school and wondered why his mother hadn’t been there liked she’d promised him the night before. He would never know that she was out doing unspeakable acts with his father’s friends.

It continued for years. Every year without fail, he would walk past his old classrooms, catch sight of smiling, happy families bidding their children goodbye and wonder why his parents were never there for him or Max and Phoebe who’d graduated a year or two ago. He would wonder why Max and Phoebe were always the ones waiting for him at the end of the day, why he would never see his parent’s run-down _Toyota Corolla._ He wanted to know why Max and Phoebe, his siblings who really only had one obligation to him, were always the ones to rush around in order to make sure he was home on time when he parents couldn’t have been more bothered.

Eventually, as was general procedure with all unanswered questions and bottled emotions, he reached a boiling point. He had gotten sick of seeing his friends greeting their parents or sliding into their cars while chatting about how Bobby Hamilton had eaten a slice of cheese from the ground _after_ five seconds or how Tammy Simel had asked Al Turnbo if he liked Sandy’s sister when he so obviously didn’t. He needed answers and he needed them now.

The next day at school when he spotted Max’s face amongst the crowd of swimming faces. He’d prepared himself for what he considered to be every possible answer and was now strangely eager for the answer. When he reached Max’s side, he blurted out, “How come mommy and daddy don’t pick me up M?”

Max tenses, the ever so slight contraction of muscles that if Billy hadn’t been so close, he’d never have picked it up. He tenses automatically, but when he looks up Max has tears in his eyes. He opens his mouth, ready to take back the question, but is cut off by Max. “ _Hank and Barb_ weren’t ready to have kids nor were they ready for the responsibilities that came with children. When they found out they were having you, the decided that Phoebe and I would handle most things because for most of our lives, we’d been taking care of ourselves.” Max practically spits the words, supressed hate, rage and frustration leaking into his normally collected facial expression. Billy winces, suddenly feeling lucky and mad at the same time.

“Mom and dad have been making us pick after them forever, that’s not gonna change anytime soon bub.” Max’s words are harsh but nonetheless true.


	8. Imaginations Come To Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay, I had this done a few days ago but couldn't get around to uploading because I had my science report to finish writing. I was also having a bit of writer's block before I managed to finish this in addition to a little bit of mental struggle. This is probably really bad (like all the other chapters) but I'm still going to upload it because y'all deserve something, even if it is crappy. 
> 
> Someone on Fanfiction.net is sending me prompts, so if any of you want to do that too, feel free to. Just know that it may take me a while to get it done. 
> 
> AsexualBabyBeast

Max Thunderman had always dreamt of what his dream family would be like. For as long as he could remember, he’d wanted a little brother he could tease, protect and rely on. His sisters, for all their faults and girliness, were great and he loved them despite not showing it well. But they hung out together, played dolls or held tea parties, banding together and leaving him out of their games when all he really wanted to do was play with someone other than Billy, his best friend who happened to be imaginary.

He grew up with Billy, a little boy who had always been younger than him, teaching him the things he would have taught his _real_ little brother if one of his many sisters had ended up a boy. He never told his mom or dad about Billy and he knew that he’d never quite grown out of that phase of pretence, not if the ghost of a little boy that could be seen and heard in his fantasies were anything to go by. He may not have grown out of Billy but he had grown out of the hopes for a younger brother. It was something his mother would never be able to give him.

“Did you hear me sweetie?” Barb asked suddenly, exasperated tone cutting through his thoughts. He shook his head, wondering if this was going to turn into one of Barb Thunderman’s Infamous, _Max-Thunderman-What-The-Hell-Have-You-Done-Now_ lectures. The mother of four raised her eyebrows, though she didn’t look very surprised that her eldest son wasn’t listening. She studied his face, taking in what she’d learned was the ghost of his smile, the one he got every time he watched Chloe running around in the yard. “I was just telling you that your father and I are getting a divorce despite the fact that I’m pregnant with his fifth child who just so happens to be his second son.”

Max’s eyes widened comically as he processed what his mother had just said. If she wasn’t known for _hating_ pranks, he’d assume this was one big plan she’d come up with purposefully to mess with him. He grinned, muscles in his face hurting with how wide they were being stretched before it dawned on him that his baby brother – a baby brother he’d actually get to see – was going to grow up without the love of a father, even if his father was going to be a self-obsessed superhero who liked to disappear throughout the day to scarf down burgers. He hugged his mother, something he hadn’t done in a long time, before bombarding her with question about his baby brother – a baby he’d get to play with in approximately twenty weeks’ time.

* * *

 Barb beckoned him over, eyes tired but happy. They were alone, Phoebe too busy to see her youngest brother into the world and Hank too busy to drive Chloe and Nora anywhere but school. It was peaceful, just as he’d imagined on those night that excitement had overcome him and he’d envisioned what his brother would look like and what he’d be like. The pale skinned baby, who looked like he’d just been slathered in slime and wrapped up, wasn’t crying like other babies did. He was looking around the room, looking at the world with a fresh, innocent perspective, unaware of the fact that most of his family wasn’t around him. His eyes seemed to say that he only needed his mother and big brother, something the adults in the room were fully aware of.

“Did you have a name for the baby?” Max asked, eyes never straying from the bundle in his Barb’s arms. She was staring at the baby just as she’d done on the day of Chloe and Nora’s birth and possibly as she’d done on the day of his own birth, showing to Max that her youngest child would never go feeling unloved. Barb kept her stare as she stated, “It’s up to you. I know you’ve imagined having a baby brother for so many years.”

A smile graced his lip as he sounded out the syllables of the boy who’d only ever been in his imaginations. “Billy Kent Thunderman.”


End file.
